1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to dental equipment and more particularly is directed towards a system for mixing and dispensing dental amalgam including a capsule for mixing dental amalgam and a dispenser to which the capsule is connected for direct discharge of the amalgam.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In dental practice cavities commonly are filled, after initial preparation by drilling, with silver amalgam. Typically, the amalgam is provided in a capsule in which silver powder is isolated at one end and a small quantity of mercury at the other end. When the amalgam is to be prepared, the mercury is released into the silver powder by pulling up on one end of the capsule which is designed to release the mercury into the body of the capsule. The capsule is then placed in a mechanical vibrator and the silver and mercury are mixed to form the amalgam. A pestle may be provided to enhance the mixing action. Once the amalgam is mixed, the capsule is opened and the amalgam placed on a working surface for transfer to the cavity by means of an instrument known as an amalgam carrier, which has a hollow cylinder at one end and a finger actuated lever. The hollow cylinder is packed with the amalgam, carried to the tooth and the lever depressed to discharge the amalgam into the cavity. The process is quite slow and normally requires the services of a dental assistant to continually load the carrier and hand it to the dentist who condenses the silver in the cavity.
It is an object of the present invention to provide improvements in dental mixing capsules and dispensers. Another object of this invention is to provide a cavity filling system comprised of a combination dental amalgam mixing capsule and a dispenser to which the capsule may be connected for direct discharge of the amalgam into the filling.